Kenneth Branagh’s long-awaited Artemis Fowl adaptation has finally found its titular character in Ferdia Shaw, who will be making his screen debut.
Branagh and casting director Lucy Bevan reportedly auditioned over 1,200 young actors for the role before finally deciding on Shaw, so we’re already pretty confident that he’s going to be a good fit.
Along with Shaw, the film has added Josh Gad (Beauty And The Beast) as kleptomaniac dwarf Mulch Diggums, Lara McDonnell (star of Matilda The Musical‘s West End show) as Captain Holly Short, Nonso Anozie (Game Of Thrones) as Artemis Fowl’s bodyguard Butler, and Judi Dench (whose name was already loosely attached following early talks) as fairy police force leader Commander Root.
Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl book series follows a 12-year-old boy/criminal mastermind of the same name who finds himself having to work with the LEPRecon, a fairy division, in order to stop people more evil than himself causing havoc.
The film is being produced by Branagh and Judy Hoffman for Disney, and Conor McPherson has written the screenplay.
Artemis Fowl will hit cinemas on 9 August 2019. Get all the latest fantasy news with every issue of SciFiNow.